As the season wound down and Truex clearly wasn’t going to win the championship, he became more and more frustrated with his 203-race winless streak.

“To be honest, I think I would rather have won two or three of them races than make the Chase,” Truex said late in the season. “Just for personal reasons, I want to win.

“Making the Chase is awesome but in order to win the championship, you’ve got to win races and we want to do both.”

So Truex was understandably frustrated when he finished sixth in the season finale at Homestead, his best track.

Once again, Truex was good enough to win — he led 11 laps — but couldn’t get the job done.

"Run top-two all day and finished sixth. Story of our season,” he said. “I don't even know what to do about it.”

Even more frustrating was the fact that Truex finished 11th in the final standings after a series of disappointing finishes in Chase races, losing 10th to Jeff Gordon in the final race.

“We didn't even finish

top-10 in points, which sucks,” he said. “We outrun the 24 (Gordon) all day and then he wins the race and beats us and now we're not in the top 10 in points and it sucks.

“Should have won four races this year and we just keep giving them away."

Highlight: Truex dominated the April race at Kansas, leading 173 laps before finishing second to Denny Hamlin.

Low point: Truex’s worst finish came at the absolute worst time. He finished 43rd at Phoenix after blowing an engine on Lap 10. It dropped him to 10th in points and he fell to 11th in the final standings when Gordon beat him at Homestead.

Defining moment: Truex was expected to be a serious contender when the series returned to Kansas, where he finished second in April. But Truex didn’t lead a lap and finished second again — a typical performance for a driver who keeps coming up short.

Outlook for 2013: Truex and teammate Clint Bowyer both made the Chase in 2012 and Bowyer won three races and finished second in the final standings. As a result, expectations are high for 2012.

“We exceeded expectations in 2012 at MWR,” team co-owner Michael Waltrip said. “So, you know what you do then? You reset your expectations.”

With the sport’s most improved organization, Truex should be a strong contender to return to the Chase.

But unless he wins a race and snaps his five-year winless streak, it will be another disappointing year.